Floats, 2019, VR video, sound, 24 min (ed. 1 of 3) Collect will receive .apk file after purchase and an Oculus Quest 2 with the .apk installed.

The VR work "Floats" takes on a central motif of Momo, the novel published by Michael Ende in 1973. Here, so- called Stundenblumen embody time frozen in space. The time stored in them is disseminated by their blossoming, blooming and withering. In Speiser‘s work, these flowers are exchanged for 32 objects he was given by friends or he had himself collected, all bearing a particular relationship to time and memory. In the work, these objects drift towards the spectator, extend to larger than life floating around, and shrink while moving away towards the horizon. Their movements form a Mandala-like pattern while they traverse a full circle around the viewer in exact 24 minutes, contemplating upon time(s)and space(s). They range from everyday objects whose meaning relies on the particular experiences they embody to a stone covered with traces microorganisms left 145 million years ago or a meteorite, bringing in matter from outside the solar system. Some also have a relationship to pondering about the question of time in relationship to the development of the species on earth, as is the case with a little sculpture of an ape sitting on a pile of books by Charles Darwin, a copy of which was owned by Lenin. Another aspect the title is hinting at is the floating-point arithmetic procedures that form one of the basic elements for computational processes, the condition upon which the work itself is depended upon. Floating-point arithmetic is fundamentally a formulaic attempt to represent infinite real numbers approximately, mirroring the dilemma of defining time.

Visitors to the exhibitions find a carpet in the middle of the space, showing the image of one of the objects appea- ring in the work, with a mirror hovering above, reflecting both the image as well as the observers.

Music by Mobilegirl Software architecture by Marcel Karnapke